Decorative vinyl laminates have become a recognized alternative to natural woods in furniture manufacture and woodworking in general, due to their abrasion resistance, scratch resistance, water resistance, chemical resistance, barrier performance and flame spread resistance. In addition, adhesive technology has advanced to the extent that various epoxy, emulsion and solvent adhesives are available to bond the laminates to the substrate, depending upon the desired application. However, notwithstanding its adequate physical properties, vinyl has high elongation, resulting in a poor printed appearance compared to that of paper. Indeed, a typical vinyl product is 2 plys, a solid color base (color throughout) that is printed and a clear vinyl that is laminated over the print so as to protect if from abuse. The clear film is often coated with a scratch resistant coating to enhance its protective properties. Vinyl's poor appearance when printed stems from its high elongation; it stretches when in the printing press thereby "smearing" the image. Where paper is used instead, a pigmented paper can be used to eliminate the over-print step, resulting in superior print quality. Paper also handles better in lamination than does vinyl. Accordingly, it is desirable to use paper instead of vinyl. However, paper has lacked the physical strength necessary to perform as a machinable material. In particular, in miter-fold particle board applications, the paper must have sufficient strength to resist tearing and/or splitting when the miter-fold edge is formed. Heretofore, the superior printing quality of paper could not be exploited in such applications because of the severe stresses encountered during the miter-folding or "V-grooving" of the board.